I got the Sapphire Preferred card a while back and have been very good about using it wherever I get a category bonus, namely dining and travel booked directly with the airlines/hotels. I’ve been booking a lot of partner awards on United lately with these Ultimate Rewards points, and as is often the case with award tickets, seat selection is not possible on United’s site. Being the selective (if idiosyncratic) seat snob that I am, this does not sit well with me. Fortunately there is almost always a way around this, except for Thai Airways, but even there you just have to call them and have them select the seat for you, which is no big deal…

This flight is from JFK to SIN via TPE, which I chose because I wanted to get into their new Royal Laurel business class, and also tick off another of the top 30 longest commercial flights available…and pick up a Rimowa amenity kit for a friend.

Step 1: Get your ticket number from the confirmation email that United sent you.

Confirmation email from United.

Step 2: Go to the EVA Air website and click on “Seat Selection” under “Book and Manage Your Trip.”

EVA’s current home page (Feb 2014)

Step 3: Input your ticket number and name.

Next step – you want the second tab from the left.

Step 4: Find your flight segment and click on “Seat change” to the right. All of your segments will show up here and you’ll need to select for each one individually. You’ll also get your EVA PNR here which is handy for future changes or check-in.

Itinerary info page.

Step 5: Select your seat!

Seat selection page. Not as cool as ANA’s, but it works!

You can see I went with got stuck in the rear business class cabin — usually I like to be more towards the front. I suppose this cabin will have a “smaller” feel, like being in row 5 of the VA 773 (which is a total mixed bag in my opinion). At least I got a window seat, which I always enjoy in reverse herringbone configurations.

I’m looking forward to testing this hard product out. The scheduled flight duration is 16:10, so I think the soft product will make or break the flight, but the photos I’ve seen of Royal Laurel remind me of UA Global First (but reversed), Cathay business, Delta business, and maybe BA First. Detailed seat review to follow…